Dani Alves left Barcelona last summer after eight fruitful years and a truckload of trophies, but he did not head into the winter of his career like many other top stars have in the recent past.

He did not head to China. He did not pack his bags for America. No, instead he signed for Italian heavyweight Juventus.

After winning 23 trophies for the Catalan club and now aged 33 (34 on May 6), Barca probably thought the time had come to part ways with Alves and head in a new direction.

Thus far, that new direction has seen Sergi Roberto, a centre midfielder by all accounts, convert into a makeshift right-back with indifferent results.

Real Madrid are in control of the La Liga title race, Barca have been knocked out of the Champions League and all they have left to really look forward to is the Copa del Rey final against Alaves.

Meanwhile, the 100-time Brazilian international is on course for a treble with Juve as they are soaring nine points clear at the top of Serie A with four games left to play, they have a date with Lazio in the Coppa Italia final and are 2-0 up after the first leg of their Champions League semi-final with Monaco - which they played away.

Oh, and Juventus were the ones to knock Barca out of Europe, preventing one of the most exciting teams in the world from scoring against them over the course of two legs, as well.

Given the contrasting fortunes, one could be forgiven for thinking that Barcelona made a mistake letting Alves go as easily as they did last summer, but the rampaging full-back's display at the Stade Louis II last night certainly confirmed that line of thinking.

As you can see from the highlights package above, Alves is still right at the top of his game and you would be hard pushed to find a better right-back in the world right now.

It's certainly not Sergi Roberto, anyway.

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, alongside former England manager Glenn Hoddle, showered Alves in praise after his show-stopping performance that featured two perfect assists for Gonzalo Higuain.

"He’s still the best in the business, bar none," Ferdinand told BT Sport.

"Best with the ball, defends when he needs to, you saw him against Barcelona with Neymar – had him in his pocket.

"He does every part of the game that you want from a right-back in modern-day football.

"If there are clubs looking for right-backs in the Premier League – you don’t look any further than him."